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You were lucky you weren't hit trying to save the poor thing Tawm. Maybe the truck driver didn't realize he'd hit it.

dotkel50 wrote:You were lucky you weren't hit trying to save the poor thing Tawm. Maybe the truck driver didn't realize he'd hit it.

It'd be pretty difficult to realize he hadn't hit it. It struck near the top of the truck. It had to have made a resounding sound against the metal. But then it's much harder to stop an 18 wheel truck doing 65mph on the freeway than it is to stop an SUV. He may have had no choice, because he can't just brake as easily as a regular car. Or, he may have assumed it was dead.

I was actually pretty sure it was dead myself, when I saw it get hit and just roll off the top of the truck; it certainly seems like it would have. (I mean most humans wouldn't survive being struck by an 18 wheeler, why would a bird?) I just didn't want it to get repeatedly run over on the freeway, and when I saw it move; that's when I went into over drive and was standing in the freeway lane between oncoming traffic and the hawk.

When I dropped it off to my wife, I was literally texting her every 15 minutes at work, to see if it was still alive in the box. I wasn't sure if it was going to make. I know nothing of birds and how brittle they are; if it had internal bleeding, etc.

Sort of an update on the Hawk - finally heard back from the folks at Project: Wildlife.

Read about it over here.

Aw, that's great news about the hawk, Tawm. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for him. It's so great that people stop to help injured animals.

In other news, I heard the hawk got himself a lady friend.

An update to the update with real (AWESOME!) news!
http://neverendingnights.com/archives/789

That's so cool...ya dun good Tawm.

dotkel50 wrote:That's so cool...ya dun good Tawm.

I'd like to think so! Especially if the hawk was only there for about a month and some change! That means it was in pretty good shape. Had I not stepped in, it would have been run over repeatedly on the freeway. It feels good.

Oh wow! Terrific news!
(gives Tawm a Hawk Saver badge)

BBP wrote:Oh wow! Terrific news!
(gives Tawm a Hawk Saver badge)

*wears it proudly!*

I don't know how I missed this thread the first time. I read through it just now.

Tawmis, you did a wonderful and brave thing. Both you and your wife saved that hawk's life. You must be proud of yourselves.

It's great that he fully recovered and that he was released into the wild. I hope he really learned his lesson and that he'd fly away from the freeway.

Yeah, I feel especially happy that the Hawk was able to be free after only one month.
That means despite taking that hit, tumbling over the truck, landing on the freeway, getting hit by a second car (I believe on the other side of my car on the freeway) - he managed to fly free after one month.

That email from her honestly made it so it was nearly impossible for anything to bother me at all. I was walking on clouds.

And yes, next time he's chasing his mate, I am hoping he's more cautious about the freeway...
And I hope he was able to find his mate again, make some baby eggs, and give us more red tailed hawks!